Evening Republican, Volume 18, Number 241, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 12 October 1914 — TEACHES SYSTEM TO "THE SYSTEM" [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

TEACHES SYSTEM TO "THE SYSTEM"

Mary Shapiro, the Remarkable Business Housekeeper of Wall Street. ITS EFFICIENCY ENGINEER Bhe Telle employers How to Minimise Their Office Expenses and Get Better Results—Some Unique Employments.

By RICHARD BPILLANE.

'Wall street has something entirely new, a business housekeeper. She calls herselt a visiting secretary, but visits ing or business housekeeper more nearly defines her work. In the home of “The System” shq is teaching system. She is a scientific office woman. When a firm or a corporation finds its office force does .not work well, or that expenses are out of all proportion to the results achieved, she straightens things out What the efficiency engineer who goes into a factory and, after careful study, reports to the manufacturer what must be done to check waste, she does for tlfia banker, the broker, the lawyer and the mining man. No Job is too big for her, and no Job too small. She has been in Wall street long enough to know Its needs and has had experience enough to know how to meet those needs. The business housekeeper is Mary Z. Shapiro. She went to the street when die was a slip of a girl. She hi less than thirty now, but she says it seems as if she has been in the financial district for ages. Most of the stenographers down town or up town are most happy when they have the least to do. They chatter and gossip and watch the clock rather than think of ways and means by which they may serve their employers or improve

their minds. Occasionally there is one that is different Miss Shapiro was different.'‘She was earnest, ambitious and eager to learn. She wanted to have her full share of the innocent pleasures of life, but downtown meant business to her. As she wanted to go ahead in the world she could not see wherein be doing Justice to herself if she did not learn everything she could about business. Learned Something Eveqy Day. What education she has she got in the schools of New York. A good pupil can learn a lot In the schools of New York. There is a lot more that can be learned after leaving schooL This girl stenographer learned something every day. She studied her employer’s business, studied the methods by which things were done and retained all the knowledge she obtained. She was not content merely to transcribe the notes of her employer’s letters. Whenever she could make herself useful at any other work, she was eager to do it. First of all, she wanted to he a first-class stenographer. The more difficult the dictation the better she liked it Within two years she could write so fast stenographically and so accurately that site was the pride of the office. ' It la all very well to he a first-clan, stenographer, hat stenography has its limitations. She could not hope to get! more than $26 or S3O a week, regardless of how expert she became. She wanted to fit herself for something better. She had, an idea that if she became'well grounded to business she could fit herself'for some really good position. The New York university has a department of commerce, accounts and finance which la designed to equip students for the greatest usefulness in business. Miss Shapiro went to the university and Mitered this department. She studied oom-

meree and accounts and finance with the deepest interest She has a wonderfully acute mind. The study fascinated her. When she was graduated she had learned as much as her teachers could impart to her. She wanted to be thorough so she was not content to work In only one branch of Wall street’s business. She took various employments simply with the idea -of getting experience and knowledge. She worked for a banker and she worked for a broker; then she worked-for a lawyer, then she worked for a mining man. Too Good for Clerkship. A clever young woman learns faster than a clever young man, and has a better grasp of detail. -The men Misa Shapiro worked for were delighted with her services. They would have been happy to have retained herns a clerk. But «he did not wish to remain a clerk. She had a finer- mind than some of the men she worked for, and a better grasp-of business. Sbe thought she might aspire to some official position, like secretary or assistant secretary to a corporation. She knew she had executive ability, and with her skill at accounts and her fine grasp of correspondence and general business she knew she could give good service. Men who knew her capabilities- praised her highly, and declared she was one of the. brightest young women they ever had found In the business field. Praise is very pleasant, bat when there w&s a vacancy in a secretarial position, and Miss Shapiro applied for It, those who had the awarding of the position hemmed and hawed. They would like to give it to her, they acknowledged' but It never would do. They had to' have a man, they laid. To have a woman in an official position would be unconventional, justness is bound by convention. Sotoe day it-may be different, bht that day is still distant. Became Efficiency Engineer. Miss Shapiro had hopes of attaining her ambition after a while, but as time went on and she saw no change, she began to think of other ways and means of improving her condition. Sbe kept her eyes open all the while. She studied offices and she studied business. She saw a lot of waste and she

Studied how to eliminate it in all its phases. Bhe studied the -problem in the light of affording a broader field In which to use her energies. When she was satisfied that there was an opportunity for her to employ her talents to the best advantage, she branched out for herself. She became a Wall street efficiency engineer. Wall street is.made up of a mass of businesses, big and little. There are some concerns jthat employ hundreds of men-and women. There are some that employ a dozen or two. There are some that are made up of a man, a boy, and an apology for a stenographer. Some of these businesses are welljorganized. The majority are not Inanimate machinery works more accurately and more regularly than animated. It is a rare business manager who gets the best possible results oflt of his office force. One day Wall street was surprised to receive an announcement from Mlss Shapiro that she was ready to assist business houses to reduce their office expenses snd st the same time maintain the highest standard of efficiency. These results she would obtain by studying their needs carefully and applying the most practical plans and suggestions. Some of the men who received her announcement threw It in the waste basket. To some of the others It gave an Idea. They were not satisfied with the manner inwhlch their offices were being conducted. Expenses were high, but somehow they did not manage to get their work handled satisfactorily. They eent for the yoqpg woman. They acknowledged they did not know; what was. wrong, but were willing to have tiie source of the trouble discovered for them, and were ready, to pay well tor it New eyes are better than old. Sometime* a person Is too dose to an ob-

Jeet, or has been dose to ft toe loag to »ee it in the proper light. One big broker who employed Miss Shapiro acknowledged that his expenses were altogether too large, but he could not see for the life of him how he could reduce them. Miss Shapiro over Mb books and studied his case for a day. Then she startled him by explanation so simple that he almost was ashamed of himself. The broker had offices large enough for a concern that did twice or three-times the business. His lease was>pbout to expire. She pointed out how, by a rearrangement, he would have plenty of room with half the space. She consolidated the work of some of the clerkß, readjusted the whole establishment, and got her pay. One day of study on her part meant the saving of Beveral thousands of dollars a year to that broker. Not only that, Sqt it brought about a better constitution in the whole establishment. The broker thinks she Urn wonder. Sample of Her Work. A very rich and good man of Wall street sent for her. He could not understand why it was he never could get the service out of his clerks that other men seemed to get He paid them well and showed every consider ation for them, yet, somehow, they lagged in their duties. The man is very charitable. When appeals are made to him to aid he wants to be sure that what money he gives is well bestowed. His employes have a great affection for him and do their best to please him. „ _ ■ ~ Miss Shapiro studied this office and then surprised the kindly gentleman by telling him that the trouble was with him. “You send this clerk and that clerk out,” she said, “to Investigate cases of charity, and you disorganize your office force by your interference with their work.” Then she gave a list of the number of hours this clerk and that clyrk had been absent. The number of hours the clerk had been absent did not measure the real extent of the interference in the office routine. Pour hours’ absence in one day sometimes meant f?be actual loss of the whole day’s service of that particular worker, and incidentally It tied up the work of other clerks whose duties were dependent upon that particular person. Usually the person sent on the philanthropic errand had the direction of several other clerks and they were idle by reason of his absence. The kindly gentleman frowned and said he did not Bee how to remedy the trouble. He knows now. Miss Shapiro has taken over a large part of the werk connected with the charity cases. £ . ... ; ' ■ A lawyer with a big staff had been subjected to no end of embarrassment. He never seemed able to have things done to his satisfaction. He paid .out a lot of money, hut it was no use. It did not take Miss Shapiro long to find the answer. It was cheap help. The lawyer had a chronic objection to paying decent wages. He had a lot of incompetents, and paid more for them than he would for a smaller number of employes who would 'do his work In first class shape. It was not pleasant for him to be informed of the truth, but Miss Shapiro had been In lawyers’ offices long enough to make him understand how far below the average his employes were In grade and he commissioned her to reorganize his force. He has a good office staff now. It costs less than the old one and he Is getting excellent service. He Is cured of the idea that what is cheap Is profitable. Elimination of Waste. These cases are merely typical. Oo* casionally the trouble In an office is due to a well-intentioned but poorlyqualified managing clerk. Miss Shapiro studies each case just as a scientist studies a subject. The symptoms of disorder in an office are as apparent to her as the symptoms of an ailing person who comes before a physician tor examination. Once the trouble is located, there is no difficulty in, applying the remedy. One of her greatest values is to the elimination of waste. She knows pretty well what' supplies anofflee should use, whether it be a bank, brokerage house, a lawyer’s office or a mining engineer’s. She knows, too, the costs -of supplies. When she goes over the accounts it -does not take her long to tell if too much money is being spent, and what would be a reasonable amount to expend. The' range of her work la remarkable. Some of her employments are ; unique. She has a sort of emergency clearing house. In some small estab lishments the whole office Is throw# out of gear if the one stenographer or the one clerk employed is 11L Miss Shapiro is prepared on a moment’s notice to supply a stenographer trained in legal work for or one trained in brokerage business to a broker, or one trained in mining affairs to a miner. It la the same, too, in regard to a clerk. As the business housekeeper of Wall street it would seem that she would have plenty to do. But it is the busy person who always has time to do something additional. With all the calls she has upon her time in tha financial district she, somehow, finds opportunity, not only to act as secretary of the Federation Settlement house, but to take part in the activities of that great institution. Usually the highly capable business woman Is sharp-featured, crabbed in manner and dowdy in dress. Miss Shapiro is feminine to her finger tips, wonderfully attractive in feature and. in addition, is one of the best dressed women down town. (Copyright, Ml 4, by the Newspa per Syndicate)

"You Disorganise Your Office Fores by Your Interference With Their Work."